Circumstance and Fate
by GoldeneyedJohnnycake
Summary: This little one-shot is how I think the gang would react to the film. Hopefully it doesn't sound too OOC. (Cathy Carlson is also featured, but who needs specific categories and characters anyway?) Sorry about all the mistakes in the author's note, I typed it up when I was tired.


**A/N:** ** _S. E. Hinton owns all rights to the characters in The Outsiders and her other stories, I only own my imagination. American Zoetrope owns the rights to that film,_** **The Godfather** ** _, and_** **Apocalypse Now** ** _as far as I know. I don't know who owns the rights to_** **Rockin' in the Graveyard** ** _, but it's a great guys should give it a listen. Last, but not least,_** __ ** _I think that either Fox or CBS owns the rights to_** **M*A*S*H*** _ **.**_ ** _This one is a little strange, and a bit on the meta side, but I hope you like it anyway._**

"Hey, Pony, come here for a sec!" Cathy called from the living room. I stopped drying plates and squeezed between my wife and Soda on the couch, whose eyes were locked on the TV. "Look at this, they've made that book into a movie."

"Who's directing it?" I asked, furrowing my brow as the actors they chose showed up on the small screen.

"Francis Ford Coppola, I think. Wasn't S. E. Hinton the person that you gave your essay to?"

"Yeah, she needed some fodder for her first book, and I saw no harm in giving it to her. I had no idea that it was gonna take off, though. You know, she's actually Susie from school."

"Oh, really? I had no idea; the initials threw me off. I'm a little surprised that Matt Dillon's playing Dallas. Isn't he supposed to be blond?" she asked.

"So am I." Soda chimed in. "I like that kid they're getting to play Johnny. He seems like a good fit."

"Oh, yeah. I can't wait to see this when it comes out, it'll be a hoot!" I replied. "That Estevez kid looks like Martin Sheen."

"Yeah, he does, doesn't he? I love how the trailer gives nothing away, it's just a roll call. It may actually turn out to be good." Cathy said. "Whatever happened to Cherry, anyway?"

"I wouldn't know. We never kept in touch after everything happened, aside from passing each other in the hallways. I think it was too painful, honestly." I looked back towards the kitchen where Darry was putting away the dishes I'd forgotten about. "Hey, Darry, they've got a guy from _M*A*S*H*_ playing you in a movie!"

"That's nice, but maybe you should come help me with these dishes like you said you would. I might be more interested to hear about whatever you have to say with a clean kitchen."

"Sorry, I forgot. My wife distracted me."

"Yeah, yeah, you just keep blaming your wife; I bet she loves that. Now, what's this about a movie?"

"Remember that old English essay I gave to that fledgling author about fifteen or so years ago?"

"Yeah?" His train of thought was derailing rapidly.

"Well, she made it into a book called _The Outsiders_ , and now they're turning it into a movie. That guy who played Pvt. Gary Sturgis in that one episode of _M*A*S*H*_ is playing you."

"Who's playing you?" He dried some cups and handed them to me.

"A kid from _E.T._ , you should see who they've got for Johnny. He's a great fit; even Soda thinks so." I nearly dropped one of the cups as I shelved it.

"Soda has lots of opinions about lots of things, Pony. Does the movie sound interesting?" 

"The trailer was just showing who was in it, but judging by the book, I'd say it'll be pretty good. It's coming out next Friday."

"And Coppola's directing it!" Cathy and I knew that'd get Darry on the bandwagon. He loved just about everything Francis Ford Coppola had his hands on.

"Let's pencil in a showing, then, shall we? A Sunday matinee sounds nice."

A few excited phone calls later, Two-Bit and Steve were in on the plans too, and we set a date for Sunday at 1 PM. The theater was packed up to the ceiling- I'd never seen it so full in my life. _Maybe it'll be this full for_ Star Wars _too_. I thought as we took our seats. A couple hours felt like a whole lifetime as memories rushed back through my head. I was once that kid onscreen- scared, running for my life so far removed from everything I'd previously known. It had once been me and Johnny against the world, victims of circumstance and fate, and heroes in the end. I'm not ashamed to say that I cried, but I did it mostly for the memory of how life had been so long ago. The movie was excellent, though a little lacking. There were many things that could've been added, but the actors were fantastic. I had a feeling that they were gonna make it big.

When we arrived back at Darry and Soda's house, we sat around the living room reflecting on the film.

"I liked how they had that one kid playing Two-Bit wear a Mickey Mouse shirt. I cracked up every time he was onscreen. He was the best part of that whole movie." Steve said, still chuckling.

"My favorite part was when Dallas fell backwards in the chair; you could tell that was unplanned, but they kept it in anyway." I said with a grin.

"Did you notice his earring near the end? Maybe he got a post-mortem piercing." Two-Bit winked, throwing a piece of popcorn at me.

"How would that work? 'Excuse me, my good man, but this hoodlum wanted his ear pierced before burial. Would you be kind enough to facilitate that for him? And never mind the smell, that's only the formaldehyde.' I don't think that any tattoo place would take a request like that."

"Maybe it'll come up in a different film." Cathy suggested.

"It'll be about all the crazy shit that Dally and Johnny pull on unsuspecting gravediggers. I like to think that they haunt the shit outta those guys." Steve mused.

"I dig that angle; why isn't that a movie yet? _The Outsiders, Part 2: Rockin' in the Graveyard._ They could use that Jackie Morningstar track as the theme song." Two-Bit agreed, looking out the window toward the direction of the lot.

"Darry, what'd you think?" I asked.

"I dunno. I mean, it was good, but it seemed kinda whitewashed, you know?" He replied.

"How so?"

"It just seemed too idealized, like we were out being greasers and living the life of Riley. Was the book like that too? Our lives were much harder than simply causing mayhem and jumping Socs, you know. We actually had lots of problems."

"It was adapted from an essay I wrote in high school. Of course there was a ton of stuff I glanced over, but that's because bookish brats like me never really thought about just how bad off we were. You tend to idealize things when you're fourteen. I wish they'd kept the part where I kinda went crazy after Dally and Johnny died. That would've been interesting to see on film."

"That's true. Other than that, the film was pretty good. Now I wanna watch _The Godfather_."

"Why not watch _Apocalypse Now_? I wanna see how much that kid playing Two-Bit really looks like Martin Sheen." Soda commented idly.

I stopped by the cemetery with flowers once everyone else went home. Johnny and Dally would get a kick out of this for sure. "…and the kid they got to play Soda was so amazing! I didn't even mind that he wasn't blond once I started watching the film." I raved.

 _That's nice, I'm glad you had a good time, Pony._ Johnny would say. _Thanks for the flowers too, but you don't need to keep giving me money. You've paid off your debt already, and the gardeners just pocket it._

"It's a tradition now, Johnnycake, and it's too late to stop it. Besides, they probably need the money more than I do anyway."

 _Yeah, to fuel their crack habit, maybe._ Dallas always popped in after a little while. _I saw them snorting cocaine off that granny's grave in that far back corner once._

"Maybe you should quit being so cynical. They need it for food, most likely."

 _Nah, man, drugs are where it's at. Where've you been the last ten or fifteen years, Pony? I'm dead, and even_ I _noticed it!_

 _Dally's right, this neighborhood just keeps gettin' worse and worse all the time. And each time you think it's gonna get better, the crime rates go up. Our graves were vandalized the other day._

"I noticed, maybe we can get something to clean them off with later. Well, I just wanted to tell y'all about the movie; you would've really enjoyed it. Maybe I'll go see it again by myself for you two."

 _Thanks for thinking of us, Pony. Are you coming back next month?_

 _I sure hope you do, you little bastard! You can't forget about us like everyone else has._

"Yes, I'll come back next month, and if you want, I can bring Cathy along too. We haven't forgotten about y'all, and we never will. Life just gets in the way sometimes."

 _That reminds me, how's Operation: Baby Carriage goin'?_

"Nothing to report yet, Major Winston, but I hope to have a progress report soon." I gave a mock salute to the grave, smirking.

 _Good luck, kid. Here's to all the tiny Curtis kiddos that'll raise Hell in the coming years! Name one after me or Johnnycake, would ya?_

 _Bye, Pony, stay gold, okay?_

"Bye, guys, I'll try my best, I promise." I said, and I always made it a habit to keep my promises to them.


End file.
